Miter saws are used extensively in all fields of carpentry, particularly in finish carpentry. When finish coping baseboard and other trim strips are applied in a cabinet shop, they must be cut accurately to length and to the correct angle to join the adjacent trim. The motor- driven miter saw has been particularly developed for this use. Such miter saw has a horizontal table which carries a fence thereon. A rotary blade saw is pivoted to swing about a vertical swing axis and is locked at the desired angle with respect to the fence. The rotating blade can also be swung down at least partially into a slot in the table, to perform the cutting.
In each saw on the market, the horizontal table of the saw, depending on the manufacturer, varies from that of the others in respect to the height of the saw table above its support. Where the material cut is of a long length, the difference in height between the saw table and the bench top will lead to inaccurate cuts, and must be fixtured to support it at the saw table. This is time consuming and dangerous, since temporary fixtures tend to be unstable.
To meet this problem, the present invention provides an adjustable saw support, which when mounted in a proper location in a shop bench or table, will position virtually any saw table so that it is flush, or co-planar, with the shop table, regardless of the dimensions of the saw support provided by the saw manufacturer. With this achieved, long pieces of material may be fully supported by the saw table and the shop bench, and long pieces of work may be moved longitudinally for proper cutting.
The length of the back fence of such saws is relatively short leading to inaccurate cuts. A longer fence comprising a temporary wooden fixture to guide the material does not generally properly position the work, and also no accurate way to measure the length of the work being cut without a tape measure and pencil is provided. The use of a tape measure and pencil is inconvenient, inaccurate in itself, and dangerous, since the blade guard must be removed to enable the operator to locate the pencil mark in relation to the blade used for the cut. This invention also provides a permanently mounted fence which houses a measuring scale and a measuring work stop parallel to the original fence of the saw. The stop is positioned by reference to the scale, eliminating the pencil and hand ruler, and can be locked in place for repetitive cuts, the blade guard remaining in place to provide maximum safety for everyone in the saw's vicinity.
The functions of a saw mounted in accord with this invention are similar to those disclosed in my former U.S. Pat. No. 4,798.113. The difference is that, in the present case, a heavy and strong shop bench is used as a permanent support for the saw and fences, while in the former case a lighter portable and temporary support is used.